Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo will miss the upcoming 2025 4 Nations Face-Off due to an ailment, the team announced Sunday.
The two-time Stanley Cup champion has withdrawn from the tournament in order to “tend to an ailment and prepare for the remainder of the regular season,” per the team’s announcement.
Pietrangelo was one of seven Golden Knights players named to represent the four countries — Canada, USA, Sweden and Finland — competing in the upcoming tournament, which is set to begin Feb. 12.
Pietrangelo, Mark Stone, Shea Theodore and Adin Hill were named to Team Canada in early December. Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin will represent Team USA, while William Karlsson was selected to play for Team Sweden; however, Karlsson’s status for the tournament is unclear given his week-to-week status.
Team Canada has yet to announce a replacement for Pietrangelo, according to SportsNet’s Elliotte Friedman. The deadline to do so is the day before the tournament.
Possible replacements rumored to be in consideration include Edmonton’s Evan Bouchard, Los Angeles’ Drew Doughty, Florida’s Aaron Ekblad and New Jersey’s Dougie Hamilton, all of whom are right-shot defensemen.
Pietrangelo is the first player to withdraw from the tournament, though it’s unlikely he’ll be the only one as teams gear up for the final stretch of the regular season and potential postseason runs.
Though the nature of Pietrangelo’s ailment is unknown, it’s not serious enough to keep him out of action, as the 35-year-old blueliner was in the Vegas lineup in Sunday’s matchup against Florida.
Pietrangelo has three goals and 25 points in 46 games this season.